Conveying apparatus



(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 1..

T. M. KENNEY. CONVEYING APPARATUS. 1010.465529. Patented Deo. 22, 1891 Fiyi, I

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Y l lf m i mi i f4 (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. M. KENNEY.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

Patented Deo. 22, 1891.

fianzas Unirse 'STATES PATENT OFFICE@ THOMAS M. KENNEY, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OF NEV YORK.

CONVEYING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent Non 465,529, dated December 22, 1891. Application led October 19, 1886. Serial No. 216,623- (ANo model.)

T a/ZZ uffi/0m t may concern.' l

Be it known that l, THOMAS M. KENNEY, of

l Cambridge, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Conveying Apparatus, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,is a specilication,like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention relates to a conveying appal xo ratus especially intended for use in stores or other buildings and adapted for conveying goods from a sales-counter to the packingstation and returning the same when properly packed or wrapped.

The invention is embodied in an apparatus comprising a track or supporting-guide connecting the stations between which articles are to be transferred and a carrier consisting of a truck or support-ing portion adapted to travel on the said track, and a receptacle connected with the said truck in such manner that it can be raised and lowered with relation thereto. The track is intended to be high enough to guide the receptacle when raised up to the truck above all obstacles that may be on the floor of the building; and the invention consists in the means employed for raising and lowering the receptacle at the stations and for retaining it in its high position while traveling on the track and in the various combinations of devices hereinafter pointed ont.

Figure l is a side elevation of a station at one end of the track and the carrier at the said station, it being understood that the station at the other end is or may be of similar construction. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the apparatus at the station; Fig. 3, a plan View of the carrier; and Figs. 4 to 7, inclusive, deT tails of a modification of the actuating device for the elevating mechanism.

The track a may be of any snit-able or usual construction, being shown as consisting of a wire or cord connected at its end with a framepiece d (shown `as'supported on a rod a2) and steadied by guides a3, connected with the ends of the frame-piece a'. The carrier is shown as comprising a truck or l.frame JJ, provided with grooved rollers b', resting on the track CL,the said frame b extending belowthe track 5o and supportin gt-he receptacle-elevatin g mechanism, shown in this instance ascomposed of a shaft c, provided with reels c', upon which are wound cords or straps c2, passing over guidepulleys cigsupported on the lower part of the frame b and connected with a receptacle c4, which is shown in this instance as a wire Y basket, but -Which may be of any desired shape,

size, and construction, according tothe nature of the materials to be carried. The straps c2 are intended to be long enough to permit the 6o receptacle c4 to be lowered into convenient reach of a person standing on the floor when i the track a is at any desired height sufficient to carry the receptacle c4 when elevated, as shown at Fig. l, above the heads of persons on the door or over any other obstacles that may exist in the building where the apparatus is used Other devices might be used as elevating mechanism to raise and lower the receptacle 7o ci with relation to the part b of the carrier that remains on the track without departing from the invention.

The shaft c is extended outside the frame b, as shown,and is provided at each end with a crank-pin d, (shown as connected with a plate d,) and the projecting portion of the shaft is'provided with a tapering cushion e,

- preferably of rubber. When the carrier comes to a station the said elevating mechanism is 8o brought into co ope-ration with actuating mechanism, shown in this instance as comprisinga tapering or funnel-shaped 'socketf on a shaft having a bearing in a `bracket d4, fixed upon the frame-piece a,the said socket 8 5 or hollow shaft f being properly located to re-V ceive the projecting portion of the shaft c, and provided with arms f', that engage the crank-pin (l d, and also being provided with a "pinion f2, meshing with a gear f3, also having 9o `a bearing on the bracket a4.

' the gear belt f5, that may extend to the floor or to any other point below the level of the hand of the operator, where it is shown as passing over another pulley f, preferably provided with a ratchet and pawl f7, that prevents its rotation in the direction tending to lower the basket c4, but permits its free rotation in the other direction. The pulley f4 is roughened or provided with projections to engage the cord f5, so that it will not slip thereon; but thesaid cord, n moving in the direction to lower the basket, slips on the pulley f6, which thus affords a frictional resistance which may be made to about balance the weight of the basket. In order to prevent the basket from running down rapidly by its own weight, a dog g is provided, that engages the teeth of f4, as best seen in Fig. 2, the said dog fallin'ginto the teeth by gravity orby a spring, andv being provided with a cord g', preferably passing to a ring or loop g2, that embraces one member of the cord f5, and being provided'with a tassel or handle in reach vof the operator, who may thus release the gear by pulling on said cord and disengaging the dog g', thus permitting the basket to run down by gravity, while its movementmay be regulated by the hand encircling the cord-f5.V

The gears f2 f3 are merely for increasing the movement of the basket with relation to that of the cord f5, so that a' comparatively short movement of the cord is sufficient to raise the basket u p to the truck or frame-workv ofthe carrier, and the said gears might, if desired, be dispensed with and the cord engaged directly with a pulley on the hollow shaft j'.v

When the receptacle is raised, by actuating thev elevating mechanism by the cord f5, as described, it will be retained in its elevated position by the dog g engaging the gear f3 until thecarrier is sent away from the station.

'In order to prevent the spools c from turn ing' and lowering the receptacle when the crank d is disengaged from the pins f when sent away `from the station, a locking device .is provided. vThe shaft c isprovided with a ratchet h, that is then engaged by a dog h on a lever h2, pivoted at h3 on the sid-e of the frame of the car. The said lever is connected by ajlink h4r (best shown in Fig. 3') with a lever h5, having its opposite end connected by another link h6 with a similar lever h? at `the other end of the carrier.' A spring ha (see Fig. 3) vacts on the lever h5 in a direction to turn t-he lever h2, so as to throw the dog h into engagement with the ratchet h, andthus v prevent the shaftc and spools thereon from turning. The dog h is'disengagedwhen the carrier comes into a station by the action of a pin hfprojectingfrom the free end of the level" h2, as shown in Figs. l and 3,which pin comes iutothe forked end of a` stationary arm t', fixed on the main frame a of the track, as shown in Figs. l and 2, thus turning the lever h2 back on its pivot h3, as shown in Fig. 1. rl'hus when' the carrier arrives at the station the shaft ois unlocked, but at the same time engaged with the shaft f, which then controls the movement of the shaft c and the recep-` tacle supported from it, and in the constructionshown, when the said shaft f is released by the disengagement of the dog g, as before described, both shafts f and c will be free to turn, except as controlled by the cord f5, and the receptacle will run down by the action of gravity controlled by the operator, as beforetion, the other end of the track, by' engagement of the pin on the lever k7 with aforked arm similar to the one t', causing a movement of the said lever hl, which is transmitted by the-link h6, lever 717, and link h4 to the lever h2, moving the latter into the position to disengage the dog h from the ratchet h, and-the cushions' e around the end of the shaft c, striking into the socket j', arrest the carrier without too great shock.

The carrier is prevented froml rebounding and caused to remain'in the position shown in Fig. l, with the crank CZ in the path of the pins f and the dog h disconnected from the ratchet h by means of a locking device 7o, pivotedat lo on the frame a and provided atits forward end with an inclined striking-face 102,'

that engages a pin 7e3, projecting from the axle of the wheel b', the said pin passing under a shoulder that drops and engages it, as shown in Fig. l, preventing rebound and holding the carrier at the station untilfit is desired to send it away.

The carrier is propelled away from the station by a propelling device (shown as a rod m) having suitable guides in the frame-work atv the end ofthe track and connected with a frame n, that runs on and is'v guided by the track a, and when moved forward by the rod m engages a piece 0, fastened von the framework of the carrier,- thus pushing thefentire carrier away from the station.4 The rod 'm is actuated by a iiexible cord or strap y10a/,passing over a pulley m2, having connected with it a smaller pulley or drum m3, over which is wound acord m4, provided with a suitable handle accessible to the operator, who, by pulling down the said cord, rotates the pulley m2, and thus winds up the cord m and thrusts forward the rodm at much greater speed than that of the operators hand.

The carrier has to be released by the lock-v ing device lo before it can be moved by the propelling device m and connected parts, and this release is effected by a rocker p, pivoted on the locking device la, as shown, having two forked fingers p p2, that rest over the track in front of a projection n2 ofthe frame n of IOO IIO

l nal position, (represented in Fig.` 1,) which may be done by the carrier coming in'to the station, the projection n2 engages the finger p2 and posite to that represented in Fig. 1, and when' the propelling device is returned to its origicarries the rocker back to the position shown in time to permit the latch end of the locking device to drop into engagement with the pins 7a3 of the carrier.

lt will be seen that the propelling and elevating mechanism are all connected with the supplemental frame or bracket a4, which is fastened to the main frame a. by bolts or screws, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and can consequently be removed, if needed, to make repairs by disconnecting the said supple-` mental frame from the main frame a', which may remain supported on the rod a2 and stayl by the tension of the track ct and guys a3, which need not be disturbed. It is not neces-1 sary that the mechanism should be duplicated at the other end of the track as the packing-` station niay be itself elevated to the level of the track, so that the baskets c4 will not have to be raised and lowered at the other end of` the track, which would in such case need only the locking device for the carrier and thel propelling device; or in some cases the track may be inclined upward from the stationl shown, in which case a sufficient impulse. would he imparted to throwthecarrier up the incline, and it would merely have to be caught by a suitable latch or locking device at the other end, and when released would return by gravity.

Carriers have been previously made in which the receptacle may be raised and lowered from a truck or frame that remains at the level of the track by elevating devices of various kinds, but none of these to my knowledge have been engaged `with actuating mech-v anism located at a station of the track capable of being operated from a lower level, which is the main feature of this part of my invention, and the invention is not limited to the specific form of elevating and actuating devices shown, as elevating devices of other kinds may be easily modified to cov-operate with an actuating device at the station. The locking devices for the elevating-reel herein shown may be dispensed with by using a selfwinding reel, many forms of which are well known, having sufficient power to retain the receptacle elevated, in which case the actuating ievice at the station would only be required to turn the reel in the proper direction to lower` the receptacle, and such a selfwinding or spring-actuated reelwould be a well-known mechanical substitute for the reel and fastening device shown in the present case and as such would be within the invention. Y

The actuating device for the elevating mechanism represented in Figs'l and 2 is simple and effective and is represented in those figures in order to avoid confusion; but the device that I prefer and on which the specific claims for this part of the apparatus are based is represented separately in Figs. 4 to 7 and is the same as represented in Figs. l and 2, so far as the socketedshaft f and gears f2 f3 are concerned. Instead, however, of the pulley fL and endless belt f5 for actuating the gear f3, a drum f40 and cord f5@ are employed, the said cord having its end attached to the drum and being wound upon the drum as the receptacle c4 descends by gravity, when the dog g, the same as represented in Fig.i 2, is disengaged from the teeth of the gear f4. i

In order that there may always be a sufficient amount of cord f50 wound upon the drum in the descent of the carrier to raise the carrier again wholly up to the truck b, the said drum is not rigidly connected with the gear, as in the construction before described; `but both the said drum and gear are loose on the shaft flo, and the drum is provided with a pawl fm, that engages a ratchet fis, fixed to or integral with the gear f3, as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and '7, the latter figure being aseotion on line @j 'y of Fig. 5. The drum can therefore turn back in the direction to `wind the cord f5() upon it, while the gearis held stationary by the dog g, and it is thus turned back, so that there is normally about half a turn to a turn of the cord wound upon it, by means of a spring fm, connected atV one end with the hub or central portion of the drum, as best shownin Fig. 6, which is a section on line Fig. 5, looking toward the left in that figure. The other end of thev spring f1@ terminates in a hook f1, that `rests against the inner surface of the hollowed-out portion of the drum that contains the spring, as best shown in Fig. 5, and the outer end of the spring is held at the proper time, so as to strain the springin the act of unwinding the cord therefrom by means of a projection fw from an arm f1?, pivoted at-f18 upon the bracket or frame-work a4, as shown. fw remains in the space between the coils of the spring, as shown, during the greater part of the rotary movement of' the drum, so that the spring merely turns with the drum without being strained, and as the drum is turned by the gear when the receptacle c4.descex1ds by its Weight the cord fo is wound on the drum, and the pin f16 merely travels in toward the center of the drum without affecting the spring. When, however, the drum is turned in the opposite direction by the operator pulling on the cord fo, the pin f 16 gradually Works its way out until finally it engages rllhe pin IOO IIC)

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in the hook f at the end of the spring, and then if, owing to lost motion between the crank d and pins f or for any other reason, it is necessary to unwindmore of the cord fo in order to raise the receptacle its full height than was wound on the drum in the descent of the receptacle, the drum will be turned still further, and in this further movement will strain the spring f, so that just as soon as the operator lets go the cord f5@ after the receptacle is raised its full height and the gear f3 engaged by the dog. g the spring f1'L will turn the drum back in Vthe direction to wind the cord thereon, the pawl f12 then passing over thet-eeth of the ratchet f 13 an amount equal to the amount of cord required to make up for lost motion in the connection between the actuating device and the elevating device, and if at any time the cord should be wh-olly unwound from the drum before the receptacle Was raised the desired height the operator could turn the gear f3 the additional amount required by ratcheting the drum back and forth With relation to the gear, the spring movingthe drum and Winding the cord when the operator relaxes Vthe pull on the cord enough to give additional movement of the gear Whenthe cord is again pulled down.

Itis obvious that a device of this character may be used to transmit motion from an actuating cordand drum or capstan to an actuated device of any kind, which would be a substitute for the gearf3 and parts actuated by iti-as, for instance, the drum might have a ratchet-and-pawl connection directly with the shaft f or With any other shaft or Wheel to be actuated in a similar manner.

The carrier and its receptacle are shown shorter than they would commonly be made in practice.

I claim" l. In a conveying apparatus, a track and carrier movable thereon provided with a receptacle, and elevating mechanism on the carrier for said receptacle, combined with the n actuating Inechanism for the said elevating mechanism,located at the station and engaged with the said elevating mechanism only when the carrier is at the station, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a conveying apparatus, a track and Y carrier movable thereon provided with a re? elevating mechanism, by Which it is held inoperative, except when at a station, substantially as described, Y

3. In a conveying apparatus, a track and carrier movable thereon provided with a receptacle, and elevating mechanism on the carrier for said receptacle, combined with actuating mechanism for said elevating mechanism, located at the station and engaged with the said elevating mechanism only when thel carrier is at the station, and alockingdevice for the said elevating mechanism, by which it is held inoperative, except when at a. station, and means for disengaging the said locking device While the carrier is at the station, substantially as described.

4. In a conveying apparatus, the combinationof the Way and carrier movable thereon, with a propelling device comprising a part movin gv along the said Way, a pulley and flexible connector between it kand the said moving part, and a drum of smaller diameter connected with said pulley and provided with an actuating-cord'and a locking device that engages the carrier, and means actuated by the said moving part of the propelling device for unlocking the carrier before the propelling device acts upon it, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the track and carrier-frame running thereon,With a shaft and projecting at the ends of the carrier and being provided With cushions, combined with a vsocket at the station to receive and engage the way, and a yielding connection betweenthe cylinder and windlass to arrest the movement of the carrier.

8. The combination of a track composed of strained wire with .a main frame connected With and supporting the end of the saidwire,

a carrier having a receptacle and elevating device therefor running on the said Wire, and a supplemental frame detachably connected With the main frame, and actuating mechanism for the elevating device, supported on the said supplemental frame, substantially as and for the purpose described. l

9. The combination of the track and carrier with a propelling device comprising a part m, moving along the said track and engaging the carrier in said movement, a locking device le for said carrier, and rocker p, cooperating With said locking device and operated by the said propelling device, substantially as described. y

lO. 'A track and carrier having a frame running on the said track, and a shaft and reell supported on the said frame, and receptacle supported from the said reel, the said shaft projecting at the end of the carrier, embined with a shaft at a station on the track having la funnel-shaped mouth which receives the IOC IIO

shaft on the carrier, and engaging devices whereby the said shafts are rotated together7 A substantially as described.

1]. The combination of a drum and actuating-cord and an actuated member engaged by said drum when turned by unwinding the cord, but not when turning in the opposite direction, a spring having one end connected with the said drum, and a device that engages and holds the other end of the said spring during a portion of its movement produced by nnwinding the cord, which spring causes a portion of the cord to be again Wound on the drn m when the actuating force is removed from the oord, substantially as described.

Witnesses:

Jos. P. LIVERMORE, II. P. BATES. 

